Divide and Conquer
by LumpyChunks
Summary: Under the illusion of being safe the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members vow to rescue their friends. As Chris and Barry speculate about the cause of their predicament, Jill encounters a situation more dangerous than anything she has ever experienced.
1. Prologue

Left 4 Dead 2 - Preview

The skies above Washington DC were empty. Not a single cloud or star cluttered the darkness. There was not even a moon. The air above the airport was dead quiet. The streets were empty. Outside the White House armed soldiers wearing paper masks stood vigilantly. Inside the elaborate corridors were secured by more soldiers with their masks hanging off their belts in case they were needed quickly. A tall woman dressed in an expensive grey suit walked confidently down the halls, accompanied by two large men in dark suits; the secret service. In her hands she held documents and folders with "classified" written in bold red all over them. She turned a corner and approached a set of double doors. She shook her short, neat brown hair out of her dark eyes and sighed. The two soldiers stood at the doors opened them for her and she stepped inside. The room she entered was large with a projector screen to the back. A grand rectangular table took up most of the space of the meeting room. Eight chairs were on each side of the table, occupied by military officials and other important people in suits. One chair was at the head of the table, unoccupied. The woman stood at the chair and waved at everyone to sit down before doing so herself. This woman was United States Secretary of Defence, Norah Hanham.

'Time is short,' she started promptly, 'so I'll be quick.' Hanham cleared her throat and put her hands together. 'First things first; the President is secure.' There were a few relieved sighs around the table. 'The President and his family and the majority of the cabinet and other VIPs have been evacuated from the country.'

'When will we get our turn?' a plump man toward the back asked. Hanham looked at him.

'We will leave when we have fixed the problem,' she said eloquently. The relived atmosphere of the room suddenly went sour as everyone began feeling anxious. 'We need to stay here so that we can enforce a positive image to the public.'

'We have to die just so that we can make the public feel better for a few more days?' another man said, standing up. 'Can't the President do that?'

'The President has given his orders and we need to follow them,' Hanham said calmly. 'Sit down.' The man paused, clenching his fists. 'Sit. Down,' Hanham ordered. The man sat down with a thump. Hanham sighed and opened a file.

'Here's what we have so far; we believe the virus originated from Central Asia and the first infection was in Louisiana. We're not certain how it spreads but considering how contagious it is and how fast and wide it has already spread; we think it might either be airborne or spread through water. First recorded infection was in University Hospital, New Orleans and the entire hospital has been quarantined. Observation of those infected show signs similar to the rabies virus.'

'Except rabies kills you,' a woman interrupted, 'and doesn't mutate your body.'

'I said it was similar,' Hanham looked to her. 'I didn't say it was rabies.'

'But what about these mutations?' a man with glasses interjected. 'No virus ever recorded could cause these mutations. Nothing can cause mutations to this degree. We've had reports of people growing tongues three times longer than they are, developing claws that allow them to tear through nearly any material and even people developing enough strength to dent a metal door.'

'The mutations are more extreme in New Orleans,' Hanham reported. 'As it spreads, while there are mutations like you described, there are none as severe as the ones in New Orleans.' Hanham sighed and passed a file around. 'Avery Ingram will be overseeing the rescue operation of those trapped in Louisiana. The USS Abraham Lincoln is positioned just a few miles off New Orleans. Ingram is flying over from England to run the operation on the Lincoln with Admiral Jaeger.

'Do you think it's wise for CEDA to handle the evacuation?' someone else asked. 'They're such a new organisation...'

'They have the resources of the nation at their disposal,' Hanham said confidently. 'Nationwide; our priorities are to study the infection and prevent it from spreading. We're getting reports that it's reached Canada and Mexico, so we need to prevent it from getting any further. We can't have another swine flu incident...'

*

Half an hour later, Norah Hanham left the meeting room, this time empty handed. As she walked alone down the corridor, someone called her name out from behind. She turned and saw a short man with grey hair and thick glasses approaching her. Norah sighed and waited for him.

'What can I do for you, Keith?' she asked him, folding her arms. Keith took her by the arm and gently stepped to one side.

'I heard about your plan of rescuing New Orleans,' he said.

'You mean CEDA's plan?' she corrected him. Keith gave her a stern look in response.

'I'm no idiot, Norah,' he said. 'Neither are you. You know I'll find out sooner or later.' Hanham looked around to see if anyone was watching. She took Keith's arm and stepped inside an unoccupied room. Norah gently closed the door and turned around, leaning against it. She gave Keith a knowing look and stepped toward him.

'Why New Orleans?' Keith asked. 'Why not focus on evacuating surrounding areas so that this damn thing doesn't get any worse?'

'The President hasn't been handling this outbreak very well,' Norah sighed. 'After only three days; he's already bottled it and jumped ship.'

'That's a good thing about him,' Keith said sarcastically. 'He can predict the future...'

'The reason everything is so difficult to control is because we know very little about the virus itself,' Hanham explained. 'Each sample we take from those who are infected degrades so it can't be analysed. This is why New Orleans is so important.'

'Why?' Keith asked. 'What's in New Orleans that isn't in God knows how many towns or cities in America?'

'Ingram has a man over there,' Norah explained. 'That man has a sample of the virus.'

'What?' Keith asked, surprised.

'After day one,' Norah said, 'he sent someone in to take a virus sample so we could study it and know what we're up against.'

'How did he know...?' Keith said softly.

'That's why I'm sitting on it...' Norah sighed. 'I don't trust Avery Ingram. Richard Jaeger thinks he's an ass but he might be the only one who can get us a sample of this virus. If we can get it; we can make a cure and then... well, the President won't look so incompetent.'

'Well, then...' Keith sighed. 'Let's hope we can get him out before...' Norah nodded. She smiled and then turned to open the door. As she stepped out of the room, Keith called her back.

'Norah,' he said as she stopped and looked back to him. He started shaking his head. 'Don't screw this up.' Norah looked away and merely nodded. She walked off down the corridor, leaving Kevin alone. He held his hand to his face and started biting his nails worriedly.

**Author's Note**** – **_Keep an eye out in November for my new Left 4 Dead stories! _


	2. The Cult of Cannibals

The Cult of Cannibals

It was a fresh, starless night. Thick rainclouds had drifted over a small city and its neighbouring mountainous forests, leaving damp streets and watered trees. The moon stuck out in the empty sky, unchallenged by stars or the clouds that were disappearing over the horizon. The air was quiet and crisp. There were very few people on the streets of Raccoon City. The moon illuminated the various roads and buildings of the remote city. There were numerous businesses, industrial buildings and residential areas. Billboards on top of the taller buildings and posters at bus stop shelters all advertised the same company with a distinctive logo of eight triangles with two colours of red and white, forming two crosses; the logo of Umbrella Chemical Inc.

Umbrella was everywhere in the city. It would be difficult to walk the streets and not see the logo on billboards, posters or even on the television. Leaflets and newspapers that blew through the silent wind over the empty streets all had Umbrella on them somewhere. Various advertisements attempted to sell the company's many products. From computers to pharmaceuticals, it would seem that Umbrella could deliver almost anything anyone wanted.

However, there were few people to sell to as the streets were unnaturally quiet. A large clock tower toward the centre of the city showed that it was just past midnight, yet there was nobody walking the streets to go to a bar, no one driving their car home after a late night at work. It was as if the entire city was full of ghosts.

However, down one street, the door to J's Bar opened and two patrons stepped out to fill the empty paths. A man supported his female companion as they slowly walked down the street and away from the small tavern. The man, Elliott, had short black hair and his companion, Danielle, was blonde. The two walked hand in hand down the deserted road.

'It's dead...' Danielle noted. Elliott looked around and sighed.

'Sure is...' he agreed. 'Must be because of what's been happening, lately.'

'Oh, don't!' she protested. 'I don't want you to freak me out. I'll have nightmares.' Elliott laughed and put his arm around her tenderly.

'You won't have nightmares if I keep you up all night...' he said flirtatiously. Danielle laughed and pushed his arm off. She turned around and walked backward, facing him.

'You're awfully confident tonight, aren't you?' she winked.

Stepping around a corner, the two joked as they continued their journey. Up ahead was a bus stop with a tiny shelter. On the bench lay a homeless man who had smashed one of the advertisement boxes and used the poster to keep warm. He poked his head out from the Umbrella poster when he heard the voices. Sliding out from his makeshift blanket, he looked around to see the couple heading in his direction. He waited until they got close and emerged from around the bus shelter, blocking their path.

'Any spare change?' he asked abruptly as the two were forced to stop.

'Sorry,' Elliott said politely as he tried to step past. The homeless man stepped back, continuing to block their path.

'Come on, man,' he pleaded. 'I just need something to eat.'

'I've got no money, okay?' Elliott said firmly. 'Now can you let us pass?' The tramp looked disappointed but his eyes lit up as he looked behind the two and saw someone else on the street.

'Screw you, then,' he muttered as he went toward his next target. As he walked away, the two continued their journey.

'Maybe we should have given him something...' Danielle thought aloud. Elliott shook his head.

'You get out your wallet and he'll swipe it,' he said.

'I still feel bad...' she sighed.

'Don't worry,' Elliott said reassuringly. 'He'll be fine. Tramps are tough people with thick skin.'

Screams of absolute agony suddenly came from behind them. The two looked around and saw the tramp on the ground, squirming as someone was on top of him.

'Oh my God...' Danielle gasped as Elliott ran over to the fight.

'Hey!' he cried. 'Get off him!' Elliott reached the homeless man and his attacker who had jumped on top of him. Putting his hands on the assailant's shoulders, Elliott hurled him off and threw him to the floor. He looked back to the homeless man. 'You alright?' As soon as he spoke, he stepped back in shock.

Blood was surging from the tramp's neck. Massive bite wounds were visible as he tried to stem the flow of blood with his hands. As he coughed up blood, Danielle ran over to see if she could help. The homeless man was lying in a large pool of his own blood that was trickling through the street and down the storm drains. Elliott turned to see where the attacker had gone. As he looked around, Danielle suddenly let out a loud yelp.

The attacker began biting at her neck. Elliott ran to her assistance and pushed him off her. Bleeding, Danielle staggered back as she put her hand to her neck. Elliott took her free hand and started to run away. They rushed past the attacker who followed them with his eyes as they ran. The two sets of footsteps bounced around the empty streets as the two desperately tried to find help of some kind. After a few moments running, they arrived at a set of apartments where Elliott lived. As he took out the keys and unlocked the main door, Danielle looked around nervously. She thought she saw something in the shadows down the street before she was pulled inside by Elliott, who locked the glass door behind them.

In the small lobby Elliott sat Danielle down on one of the stairs leading up. He examined her neck wound. As he looked at it, Danielle began to shake, clearly shocked and upset by what had just happened. Her forehead was sweating and her breathing was heavy.

'You don't look good...' Elliott said grimly, wiping her head. She was very warm.

'That freak's probably given me some sort of disease or something,' Danielle spat. Elliott stood up and made his way for the public telephone.

'I'll call an ambulance,' he said as he turned to the phone by the door. He recoiled in shock as he saw two figures at the door, pounding on the glass with their bloodied fists to get in. 'Oh my God...' Elliott muttered as he stepped back. One of the people outside was Danielle's attacker, but the other was the homeless man who was stood upright despite his severe neck wound. In absolute shock, Elliott stood there, motionless for a moment as he tried to comprehend the sight before him.

He turned to Danielle and was suddenly knocked to the ground by her.

'What are you doing?' he cried as she jumped on top of him, holding him down. The look in her eyes was blank, almost inhuman. Elliott resisted as she attempted to bite him. While they struggled, the two outside were hammering on the glass harder. Suddenly, they broke through and stumbled inside the lobby of the apartment building. They looked to the ground and saw Elliott struggling. The two then shuffled over toward him.

Screams of terror bled into the night. They did not last very long.

*

The sun had risen and the clouds had returned, tainting the sky a miserable grey. Outside the apartment building, police and detectives were attempting to decipher what had happened. The corpse that lay on the floor of the lobby was in pieces. Blood was everywhere and it was almost impossible to comprehend that the lump on the floor used to be a person. A man dressed in black was stood in the crime scene, wearing dark boots and combat trousers, a navy blue undershirt with a dark vest over it. _S.T.A.R.S._ was inscribed on the dark vest. In his ear was a slim headset and microphone. His hair was a short blonde and despite the weather, he wore dark sunglasses. This man was Albert Wesker. As he looked at the heap of flesh and blood on the ground he did not seem to be as distressed by it as the other police officers were. While everyone else looked ill at the sight of the room, Wesker had a blank, almost void look on his face.

Wesker left the apartment building and stepped out onto the streets. He looked around at the perimeter of the crime scene tape at the pedestrians who had stopped to see what was going on and news camera crews who were trying to get the gruesome details. Wesker bypassed all of them and stepped under the crime scene tape, walking past the various people who were nosing into his business. He walked away from the crime scene, which felt very familiar to him and the rest of the police in the city and was the reason why no one stepped out at night.

Suddenly, Wesker was stopped by someone, a blonde journalist.

'Alyssa Ashcroft, the Raccoon Press,' she introduced herself before shoving a tape recorder in his face. 'Can I ask you a few questions?'

'I can't discuss any details about an ongoing case, if that's what you're going to ask me,' Wesker spoke with a deep, calm and cool authoritative voice.

'I know that,' Alyssa said quickly. 'I've had the same response at the other seven identical crime scenes I've been to.'

'It's good to know the police are doing their job,' Wesker said, trying to push past.

'But are they, sir?' Alyssa said, blocking his path. 'Doing their job, I mean. Seven identical crime scenes all over town with people being attacked and mutilated by large groups.'

'What's your point?'

'People are afraid to walk the streets at night,' Alyssa said, her tone become stern. 'People are being attacked in the Arklay Mountains by ferocious animals, more have been reported missing. Are all these events connected?'

'You know I can't comment,' Wesker said.

'Well then,' Alyssa paused, her tone becoming ferocious. 'The police are obviously not doing their jobs at protecting the citizens of Raccoon City from whatever it is that is out there. Would you care to comment on that?' Wesker's eyes narrowed as he looked at the woman. Several bystanders were turning their attention to his conversation, rather than the messy crime scene. 'Would you care to comment on the effectiveness of S.T.A.R.S. in dealing with these gruesome attacks?' Wesker lent down to Alyssa's face, causing her to step back.

'No,' he said firmly as he pushed past her. Looking disappointed, Alyssa turned off her tape recorder and watched Wesker as he walked away.

*

In the shooting gallery, Chris Redfield and Forest Speyer were engaged in a friendly competition. The two men both wore uniforms with S.T.A.R.S. inscribed on the vests. Chris wore a green vest while Forest wore a dark grey with matching combat trousers. Each was firing at their targets and was, for the most part, landing shots right in the middle. Chris' gun clicked empty as did Forest's. The two reloaded their weapons as they pushed a button to bring their targets toward them. With the results of how well they did sliding toward them, Forest and Chris gave each other sly grins.

As the targets were presented to them, Chris let out a laugh of excitement.

'Oh yeah!' he yelled happily, punching the target. 'Who wins? Redfield wins, that's who!' Forest smiled in defeat. He extended his hand and Chris took it, giving it an energetic shake. 'It was close, though.'

'Yeah, well just you wait!' Forest grinned. 'I'll get you next time.'

'Looking forward to it, my man,' Chris winked as he let go of Forest's hand, taking his weapon. The two walked toward the inventory and handed over their weapons and left the shooting range.

Still chatting, Chris and Forest walked through the Raccoon City Police Department. It was a grand building, much larger than any other police department in the area. It employed a great number of highly skilled officers and was made famous by its Special Tactics and Rescue Service; S.T.A.R.S. Two members of this elite group walked through the basement toward the stairs heading up. Stepping past an officer with a leashed dog, Forest looked to Chris.

'How's your sister doing?' he asked.

'Claire?' Chris paused. 'Yeah, she's alright. She's doing well at college.'

'She always was the brains of the family,' Forest joked.

'That makes me the one with the good looks then?' Chris laughed.

'Oh no,' Forest shook his head. 'That's Claire, too.'

'I'm not letting you date my sister,' Chris said slightly sternly as they started heading up the stairs.

'Can't hurt to keep trying,' Forest smiled. Chris looked to him with a sarcastic look in his eye.

'Oh yes it can.'

The two emerged from the basement and were stopped by two other S.T.A.R.S. members, Richard Aiken and Rebecca Chambers who were having a conversation in the hallway.

'Hey guys,' Richard nodded. Forest looked to Rebecca and winked at her, causing her to blush slightly. At 18, she was the youngest S.T.A.R.S. member just a year younger than Chris' sister.

'Finally got one that fits you?' Forest asked blushing Rebecca who was strapping on a white bulletproof vest over her green undershirt. The back of the vest had a medic symbol on it.

'Well we've just stole this one,' Richard explained. 'Irons keeps slashing the budget so we can't really afford new equipment.'

'Oh yeah,' Rebecca said, tightening one of the straps. 'That reminds me; Jill was looking for you, Chris.'

'Christ, I forgot to tell you!' Richard said apologetically. 'She needed you for an Alpha team meeting with Chief Irons... or something.'

'When did she need me?' Chris asked, stepping close to Richard.

'About an hour ago...' Richard said slowly, trying to lessen the blow.

'Damn it... and you're supposed to be the communications expert!' Chris muttered. 'Catch you guys later!' With that, Chris turned and ran off down the hallway. Forest looked at Richard and shook his head teasingly at him.

Chris ran down the hallway and decided to take a shortcut by going through one of the offices. He was lost in the hustle and bustle of telephones ringing and officers talking and taking notes. Chris picked up a few stray words as he hurried past; "missing person" and "attacks" were becoming unsettlingly common phrases lately. Leaving the office he emerged in another corridor and ran for the door that that led to the main hallway. The main hall was grand and gave a sense that someone was in absolute power to those who set foot in it. Behind a large statue of a woman who stared at the entrance was a reception desk with a few people typing away frantically. Chris ran past them into another set of offices. As he stormed through, someone shouted his name.

'Hey, Chris!' Officer Marvin Branagh called out. Chris stopped and looked over the desks that were in the centre of the room at him. 'What have I said about storming through here and the evidence room?'

'That it's okay this last time?' Chris smiled cheekily before running off again before Marvin could respond. Chris left through another door, leaving Marvin looking angry at him. Chris ran through the evidence room, through another hallway and up some stairs. He ran past a set of statues and into another corridor where he finally made it to his destination, the S.T.A.R.S. office. He stormed through the door and was surprised to find it empty, except for Jill who looked up at him from her desk.

The office was rather small for the number of people it had to accommodate. Six desks were evenly spread throughout the room, with the largest placed in front of a Raccoon City Police Department flag, overlooking the room. In the back was a set of communications equipment and a weapons locker along with some filing cabinets and boxes. Chris' desk was directly opposite Jill's, who stood up and approached him. Jill wore blue assault trousers with a matching formfitting shirt. A blue beret was on her desk, hanging on a small lamp. Her hair was a neat, short brown and her eyes were a piercing blue.

'What happened?' she asked.

'Richard didn't tell me until two minutes ago, I swear!' Chris said. Jill sighed.

'And he's supposed to be the communications expert...' Jill muttered, stepping back to her desk to lean on it. 'Well... I spoke to Irons myself. He wasn't happy.'

'I'll bet...' Chris sighed leaning on his own desk. The two were opposite each other, looking down at the ground. When Jill started talking again, they both looked up at the same time.

'Since Wesker's out at a scene,' Jill explained, 'he was expecting to talk to you. Since you were out doing something constructive, I hope...' Chris blushed slightly. 'Irons was forced to speak to me.'

'What did you talk about?' Chris asked.

'I did all the talking,' Jill folded her arms. 'He spent most of the time staring at my chest.'

'What an ass,' Chris commented.

'Yeah, well...' Jill stood up to begin pacing. 'What he made perfectly clear is that we're going to have to make cutbacks.'

'More?' Chris asked, astounded. 'Damn it, Jill... All we've done lately is cut back!'

'He needs the money for one of his stupid statues or weird paintings or something...' Jill shook her head. 'I dunno. Bottom line is that someone is going to have to be let go.'

'You're kidding,' Chris stood up.

'From Bravo, too,' Jill said glumly. 'My guess is that it'll be Rebecca.'

'What about us?' Chris asked. 'What about Alpha?' Jill shrugged and looked over toward the front of the room where a small picture was hung up. It had 12 people posing in front of a helicopter. Chris and Jill were knelt down together in the front row. She looked back at Chris and sighed.

'Brad,' they both said in unison.

'Well it's up to Wesker,' Chris said. 'We shouldn't think about it.'

'Yeah...' Jill nodded. 'Still doesn't make me feel very comfortable, though.'

The door to the office opened and Wesker stepped inside. Chris nodded and Jill smiled at him in greeting.

'Talking about me, were you?' Wesker asked lightly. Chris looked surprised.

'No, sir,' he said, stuttering slightly. 'We were talking about the meeting with Irons.'

'Ah yes,' Wesker said, going to the desk overlooking the whole room. 'The meeting you couldn't attend to either, Chris?' Chris couldn't think of anything to say so he merely shook his head.

'Captain,' Jill interrupted. 'We've got a problem with Irons.'

'Of course we've got a problem with Irons,' Wesker said, rummaging through the documents on his desk. 'The man's an idiot. However we have more pressing matters to address.' The door opened once again and Enrico Marini, Captain of S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team, stepped inside. Chris and Jill nodded at him as he closed the door.

'Chris, Jill,' he nodded politely. 'What is it, Wesker?'

'I was attacked by some reporter for the Raccoon Press,' Wesker told them, finding the document he was looking for. 'She seems to think we've not been doing our jobs very effectively lately.' Wesker turned around and looked grim. 'Frankly, I agree with her.'

'Well there's only so much we can do,' Enrico sighed. 'I mean the entire police force is being overwhelmed by what's been going on.'

'Chief Irons isn't making things any easier on us, either,' Jill added.

'We need to up our game,' Wesker suggested. 'We need to let the public know that we're in control of the situation.'

'How do we do that, exactly?' Enrico asked. Wesker handed him the document, a written order.

'I want you and the rest of Bravo to fly into the Arklay Mountains and look for any stranded hikers,' Wesker ordered. 'Alpha will remain here and re-examine every crime scene to see if we can find what's linking these murders together.'

'You sure that's a good plan?' Enrico asked.

'There's something in the woods,' Wesker said. 'There's something out there that's killing these people. I want to find it and stop it.' Enrico nodded.

'We'll set out tomorrow evening,' he said. Wesker agreed.

'Good,' he said. 'There's something inside the city and in the mountains that's causing us all this grief. We're going to find both and maybe we can save some of the department's credibility in the process...'

'I think we should discuss flight plans with Chief Irons,' Enrico suggested. With that, Wesker and Enrico left the office, leaving Chris and Jill alone. They looked to each other and Chris sighed.

'Looks like we're going to be putting in some overtime,' he said.

*

Later that evening, Chris was sat at the counter inside Emmy's Diner. He was reading police reports relating to the murder cases that had been happening lately. He was alone; no one else was sat in the diner. The only other person in the building was the owner, Emmy. She was an elderly lady who lived above the diner. Emmy took Chris' plate away, trying not to disturb him as he read. He looked up and smiled at her.

'Thanks, Emmy,' he said.

'Didn't mean to tear you from your papers,' Emmy said sweetly.

'Oh, trust me...' Chris said, stretching. 'I could use a break.'

'Coffee?' Emmy offered. Chris smiled and nodded. Emmy brought out the pot and poured Chris a nice steaming pot.

'Thanks,' he said again.

'I should be thanking you,' Emmy protested. 'You're about the only business that comes through these doors lately, what with these murders happening all over the city.'

'You should blame my severe inability to cook even the simplest of meals,' Chris smiled, holding up his cup to toast Emmy. 'Although I'm sure you'll thank me more when we stop what's been going on.'

'Oh, I know,' Emmy shook her head. 'Terrible things going on out there. I have to shut the kitchen early every day so Bob can get home before sundown... It's gonna be a nightmare in the winter.'

'We'll have caught the guy by then,' Chris said, not sounding very confident.

The door opened and two people stepped inside, Richard and Rebecca. Emmy looked genuinely surprised to see other people step inside.

'Oh my,' she said. 'Sorry but the kitchen's closed...'

'Don't worry,' Richard said. 'We had a lot of popcorn at the movie. Can we have a drink?'

'Sure you can,' Emmy beamed. Richard ordered himself a coffee and Rebecca a glass of water while she went to the restroom. Chris looked over to Richard who sat down next to him.

'Hey, man,' Richard greeted. 'How's it going?' Chris made a gesture to the documents he was reading. 'Not good then?' Chris sighed and buried his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes.

'I just feel like we've gone over this so many times...' he said, sounding very down. 'I dunno... I'm thinking we're never going to figure out this guy.'

'Well we don't need to figure him out,' Richard said, thanking Emmy for the hot coffee she handed to him. 'We just need to stop him, right?' Chris nodded. 'And to stop him, we need to find out where he is, right?' Chris nodded again. 'Well, we're going into the woods tomorrow to see what we can find. I'm sure we'll bring back good news for you.'

'I sure hope so,' Chris laughed. 'I can't handle much more of this.'

'Now, Chris...' Emmy interjected. 'Don't go talking like that. You may not be able to cook but your damn good at keeping people safe and getting to the bottom of things.'

'Could have fooled me,' Chris said sarcastically.

'You'll find out what's going on,' Emmy said. 'And when you do, I'll get Bob to make all you guys anything you want for free.'

'Thanks, Emmy,' Chris smiled.

'Well, I better go do some dishes,' Emmy said, excusing herself.

'Trust me, man,' Richard continued. 'Things will get better. They always do.'

Rebecca emerged from the restroom and went to join them.

'Hi Chris,' she smiled, sitting down and taking her water. 'We just saw you in here. Hope you don't mind.'

'Nah, don't worry,' Chris said, leaning back. 'I was at a dead end anyway.'

'Can I have a look?' Rebecca asked, nodding to Chris' documents.

'Sure,' Chris pushed the papers over to her. Rebecca started reading them, deeply interested in what they had to say.

'I think I've gone over all this stuff maybe... a hundred times?' Richard thought aloud. 'They all say the same thing; individuals begin attacked, bitten, clawed and mutilated. Real good reading.'

'Maybe they're on drugs or something...' Rebecca suggested.

'That's what I thought,' Chris said. 'But not a single trace of any drug was found on any of the victims; not even in the wounds. If someone had been high on something, you'd expect it to transfer over.'

'Maybe not...' Rebecca thought. 'Maybe it's a chemical we can't isolate because it deteriorates outside of the body or something.' She paused to think for a moment. 'Why don't you check with an Umbrella pharmacist tomorrow and ask them about it.'

'You know,' Chris took back the documents, 'I might just do that...' Rebecca smiled and drank her water. 'You two are being risky, being out this late,' Chris said with slight sarcasm.

'So are you,' Richard noted.

'I have a car,' Chris grinned.

'Yeah, well...' Richard paused. 'We're S.T.A.R.S., aren't we? Special forces don't get any hassle.'

'No one is invincible,' Chris said wisely. Richard shrugged the statement off and yawned.

'It's getting late,' he said. 'We should go.' Chris stood up with them.

'I'll give you a ride home,' he told them. 'Good night, Emmy!'

'Feel better, Chris,' Emmy smiled as she emerged from the kitchen to say goodnight. She watched them leave and sighed. 'I hope you sort this city out soon...'

*

The following night, the streets were once again empty. Bravo team had left to search the Arklay Mountains for missing persons while in one of the offices of the police department, S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team members Barry Burton and Brad Vickers were overlooking some crime scene photos; trying to piece together links between the crimes and murders inside the city and outside in the forests. They were examining each of the seven brutal murder cases that were identical to the most recent one; where the victims had been practically devoured. Brad was wincing when he looked at each photograph of a corpse or when he read autopsy reports.

'I don't think I have the stomach for this...' Brad said, trying to calm himself.

'Don't worry,' Barry muttered, not looking up from what he was reading. 'Why don't you go out and have a coffee or something?' Brad nodded and made his way for the door at a speedy pace. 'Would you get me one, too?' Barry asked. Brad stopped at the door and nodded again. When he stepped through, he said hello to Jill who was heading inside. His eyes followed her as she approached Barry, before he left to get the drinks. Barry looked up and sighed tiredly.

'What are you still doing here?' Jill asked. 'Your shift ended hours ago.'

'Wesker asked me to stay on,' Barry yawned.

'I'm sure Kathy appreciates that,' Jill said jokingly. Barry had an almost lamenting look in his eye for a brief second before he shook it away.

'Well,' he said, scratching his beard. 'She wants all this to be over as much as anyone else does... A few late nights won't hurt.' Jill smiled at him and brushed her hair out of her face as she looked at the report Barry was reading.

'Anything jumping out at you?' she asked.

'No... It's all the same,' he sighed. 'Victims are attacked... bite wounds from between one to twelve different people present on their bodies depending on the case... they're practically eaten alive.'

'They _are_ eaten alive,' Jill shook her head. 'Flesh is stripped from their bones... I mean why would someone do that? Have they not heard of AIDS? Not to mention all the other infections and illnesses you could get from eating raw, human flesh...'

'I doubt they care about the risk to their own health,' Barry suggested. 'I mean they attack these people out in the open, murder them in the messiest way possible and then just walk away. If you ask me it's about power; being able to murder someone and just walk away with the evidence spread all over you.'

'If that were the case,' Jill said, 'why not shoot them, or stab them or something? Why pin them down and tear their skin from their bones?'

'It's sure as hell different,' Barry noted. 'Maybe that's just the way they do things?'

'Maybe they're just fucked up...' Jill suggested.

'I guess so...' The door opened once again and Brad stepped inside holding two cups of coffee.

'What gets me is that it's not one person who's doing this,' Jill said. 'It's at least twelve according to the second case. Twelve people are wandering the city after they've chewed up people.'

'It's more,' Barry corrected her. 'No two bite marks we've found are identical.' Jill sighed and run her hand through her hair.

'Coffee, Jill?' Brad offered, extending a cup toward her.

'Oh, thank you, Brad,' Jill smiled taking a sip. Brad moved his cup to his lips and stopped as he saw Barry looking at him.

'Here's yours,' he said, a tone of reluctance in his voice as he handed the cup over.

'Didn't you get one for yourself?' Jill asked.

'Oh, I did...' Brad said unconvincingly. 'I drank it already.'

'Oh,' Jill raised her eyebrows. 'You must be thirsty.' She looked over to Barry and the two shared a knowing look.

'Anyway,' Barry broke the moment to bring the attention back to the work. 'As I said, the attackers are always different people.'

'I guess that rules out the cultist theory,' Brad said, taking a seat.

'I'm not sure it does...' Jill wondered aloud, holding the cup to her lips. 'One method that cults operate by is by brainwashing people into doing their work for them, you know like suicide bombers, sacrifices; that kind of stuff.'

'You think that a cult is brainwashing people to eat strangers they see in the street?' Brad asked. 'Why here? Why Raccoon City? I mean we're hardly a high value target. The only thing we've got is Umbrella and we've established that the attacks are random; not targeted at anyone in particular...' Jill put her cup down on the table and looked at a map of the city. Pins that indicated the location of each of the eight crime scenes were spread out randomly. 'And Raccoon City is quite small,' Brad continued. 'We're more of a town, really... Where would these people hide out?'

'The mountains,' Barry said as Jill looked over the map of the Arklay Mountains.

'You read my mind,' Jill looked to him. 'I think that these people are hiding out in the Arklay Mountains. There are plenty of places to hide out there... Anyone could easily get lost.'

'And hikers, campers... those kinds of people have been going missing recently,' Barry added. 'People have been saying wild "monsters" are roaming around there...'

'I'm looking at some of the marks on the bodies that have been found...' Brad said. 'There's definitely a monster out there.'

'Maybe,' Jill said with a tone of sudden realisation, 'the people who have been attacked inside the city were, indeed, random... but the people in the mountains were not?'

'I see where you're going with this...' Barry stood up. 'The bodies found in the mountains were people who were killed because they stumbled across the... base, shall we say, for the cultists?'

'Exactly,' Jill said, clapping her hands and pointing at him. 'And those responsible for these attacks retreat into the forest after their murders!'

'It'd sure explain why we've never found them...' Brad agreed.

'God, why has no one thought of this before?' Jill cried excitedly.

'Well,' Barry said seriously, 'we can't exactly prove anything, can we?'

'Bravo left to investigate the forest zone earlier this evening,' Brad said. 'Maybe they'll find something?'

'I hope our theory isn't true...' Barry sighed. 'Because if it is, Bravo team is wandering around out there with insane cultists watching them who seem to have wild animals trained to do their dirty work for them.'

'I agree...' Jill nodded. 'I'll go up to the S.T.A.R.S. office and warn them.' Jill left the room and made her way to the second floor, leaving Barry and Brad. Barry took a sip and placed the cup on the table.

'Good coffee, Brad,' he said teasingly.

Upstairs, Jill walked through the corridor and entered the S.T.A.R.S. office. She made her way for the communications equipment but stopped when she saw Wesker sat at the machines. He looked grim. He turned as he saw Jill enter and took off the large headset.

'Captain,' Jill said, surprised to see him. 'I thought you were...'

'We've lost contact with Bravo team,' Wesker interrupted.

*

It was the next evening and on top of the police department a helicopter's rotors were beginning to spin. S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team were assembled nearby. Brad was inside the cockpit performing checks while Chris, Jill, Barry and Captain Wesker, who still wore his sunglasses, were checking their equipment. Joseph Frost, the newest member of Alpha team, was setting up his camera.

'It is July twenty-fourth,' he said, 'twenty-two thirty-seven. S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team is about to head into the forest zone to search for S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team; who have been missing for just over twenty-four hours.'

'Alright,' Wesker announced over the engine noise. 'Our goal is to search for Bravo team. That is our only objective. We are to search for their helicopter and look for evidence as to why it crashed.'

'Are we sure it crashed?' Chris asked.

'Since they've not come back and we've not heard from them, that would be the likely scenario,' Wesker said. 'Barry, Jill and Brad have told me about their theory of everything that's been happening. If it is true, we're putting ourselves at great risk so stay sharp!' Wesker paused. 'Let's bring our friends back, you hear?'

'Yes sir!' everyone yelled over the noise. Wesker turned to run into the helicopter. Barry sighed and nodded at his companions before following Wesker into the helicopter. Chris and Jill turned to Joseph.

'How are you doing?' Chris asked him.

'Yeah,' Joseph nodded. 'I'm all right.'

'We're going to find them,' Jill said reassuringly.

'I know,' Joseph put on a weak smile. 'I just keep thinking that... it could have been me, you know?'

'We don't know that anything's happened yet,' Chris pointed out. 'For all we know they could have...' He paused, unable to think of what to say next. Joseph sighed.

'Thanks anyway, Redfield,' he said before giving himself a shake and running to the helicopter. Chris and Jill looked at each other.

'Poor guy,' Chris muttered. 'Transfers from Bravo and two weeks later; his whole team goes missing.' Jill put on her blue beret and gave Chris a meaningful look.

'You didn't really help there... still; let's not go missing, agreed?' Chris put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

'Sure thing, partner,' he said as they made their way for the helicopter. Now that everyone was inside, Brad lifted up and flew northwest toward the Arklay Mountains.

Most of the flight was silent other than Brad talking on the radio. Jill leant over to Chris and whispered to him.

'How are you doing?' she asked. He gave her a confused look. 'I know you and Forest are close.'

'Yeah...' Chris sighed. 'I'm just concentrating on the mission.' Jill put her hand on his and gave it a gentle squeeze. She then took out her gun and made sure that it was loaded. The helicopter flew out of the city limits and into mountain territory.

'Someone man the searchlight!' Brad ordered. 'I don't want to be crashing into anything.'

'Be lucky if chickenheart anywhere close to a mountain,' Joseph said quietly to Barry who shook his head at him. Jill left her seat and began shining the spotlight on the ground as they flew deeper into the forest...

'Has anyone seen anything?' Wesker asked.

'No...' Chris sighed. 'Not yet.' Brad flew the helicopter around a large peak and scanned over the area. A few minutes passed by before they decided to move onto another area. After half an hour of searching, they had still not found any sign of Bravo team ever being in the area. The helicopter flew over a railway track and Jill shone the light up and down to see if she could spot anything.

'Do they even use that rail line anymore?' she asked.

'Umbrella do,' Barry said. 'For their execs and stuff like that.' Jill nodded and scanned the surrounding area.

'If I were stuck here,' Chris thought aloud, 'I'd find the rail line and use it to navigate myself back to town...' He paused. 'So why didn't Bravo do that?'

'Maybe they never had the chance...' Joseph wondered.

'Look, Chris!' Jill exclaimed. She had pinned the searchlight on a helicopter that was nestled deep in the trees. It looked like it was forced to make an emergency landing.

'Take her down!' Wesker ordered.

Brad had to land quite far away as there was hardly anywhere that had a large enough clearing. He stayed behind in the helicopter as the rest of Alpha team made their way through the forest. They had their weapons drawn and their torches scanning the area. As they moved slow, their feet crunched the dead leaves and twigs that had fallen from the sky, much like Bravo team's helicopter. When they finally made it to the crash site, they stopped to take in what they were looking at.

The helicopter had crashed and skidded along the forest before coming to rest at the area that they were in. Destroyed trees and mechanical debris was scattered around the trail that it had left. There were only stubs of the propellers left as they had most likely been sheared off during the crash. Jill flashed her light over the body of the helicopter, looking at all the scratches and dents that had been made during the crash. As she looked at the tail rotor, her eyes narrowed as she saw what appeared to be burn and scorch marks present. Chris and Barry made their way around the front. The front windows were shattered but he could not see inside as the cockpit came to rest on a large tree trunk and was angled upward. The paint on the nose had been scratched away and the small pillar that separated the panes of glass was gone. Stepping around to the other side, they saw that the door was wide open.

'Looks like they all dived out in a hurry...' Chris said softly. Joseph, Jill and Wesker made their way around under the tail. Chris looked to Joseph and nodded at him when he made it to the door. Joseph jumped inside and shone the torch around looking for something. Glass was on the floor, the seats were slightly torn and none of the electrical systems were working. He looked in the cockpit and was shocked when he saw a face with claw marks all over it. One of the eyes had been scratched out and there was blood all over the seats and floor. Joseph recoiled in shock at finding the pilot and stumbled out of the helicopter. He ran out into the trees and vomited. Chris and Barry checked inside while Wesker looked to where Joseph had run to.

'Stay together!' he called out. He looked to Jill. 'Go after him.' Jill nodded and headed into the woods. Wesker checked inside the cockpit as Chris and Barry jumped out.

'Kevin,' Chris said, identifying the body.

'He's got the same wounds as everyone else who has been found in the forest,' Barry noted.

'I guess we've got a fresh crime scene...' Wesker sighed. He looked up at Chris who appeared to be very uncomfortable. 'What is it?' Chris looked at Wesker and sighed.

'I'm worried about the rest of them,' he said.

'Yes,' Wesker nodded. 'Aren't we all?' Barry looked around.

'Where are the others?' he asked.

Jill found Joseph who was had stopped vomiting but was leaning against a tree. She put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump in shock.

'Sorry!' she put her hands up apologetically. 'I thought you heard me.' Joseph sighed looked away. 'I'm sorry...' Jill said comfortingly.

'We have to find the others,' Joseph said, wiping his face. 'We need to... we need to help them!'

'We will,' Jill stepped to over to him. 'And we'll make those responsible pay.'

'Damn straight we will,' Joseph said, stammering a little. He was quite upset. Jill, feeling bad for Joseph, put her arms around him and embraced him. Joseph closed his eyes and put his arms around her. After a moment, Jill broke the hug and stepped away.

A sudden noise came from the darkness, causing Jill to break away from Joseph. The two silently looked around to see what it was. They shined their lights to try and get a better look. Nothing was there. Another noise came from a different direction, the sound of something heading toward them quickly. Jill and Joseph drew their weapons. Barry suddenly emerged from the trees.

'Hey!' he cried. 'I'm not the enemy!'

'Damn it, Barry!' Jill instantly lowed her gun. 'You scared us!'

'I came to look for you,' he said looking over to Joseph and then back at Jill. 'Everything alright?'

'I'm fine now,' Joseph said, heading back for the crash site. Barry and Jill exchanged meaningful looks and followed him.

After everyone had regrouped, Wesker started to think out loud.

'Why would Bravo leave Kevin here to die?' he thought.

'They wouldn't!' Joseph protested. 'Most likely; they crashed and decided to fan out and search the area while Kevin stayed behind to secure the chopper and equipment. He was vulnerable to attack...'

'Well we're not making ourselves vulnerable,' Wesker said. 'We're all sticking together. Let's search for Bravo team. Chris, which are the rail tracks?' Chris looked around and pointed in one direction. 'Very good, let's head that way.'

'I think one of us should stay to find out what happened here,' Jill said.

'Like; why it crashed?' Barry asked. Jill nodded.

'Good idea,' Joseph said. 'I'll stay with you.'

'Very well...' Wesker sighed. 'We'll meet you back here in thirty minutes.' Jill and Joseph nodded as the other three went off in search of the rest of Bravo team.

Wesker took up point while Chris and Barry were behind stood in a triangular formation.

'You really think Bravo team came this way?' Barry asked.

'It's what I would have done,' Chris said.

'That's if they knew the tracks were in this direction...' Wesker pointed out. 'It's likely they didn't even notice it as they were coming down and merely split up from the helicopter.'

'Is that what you'd do?' Chris asked.

'It's what Enrico would do...' Wesker stated.

Back at the helicopter, Joseph was examining the burn marks on the tail section of the helicopter. Jill was looking at the main rotors.

'Shouldn't we wait for a forensic team or something?' Joseph thought aloud.

'It rained heavily last night,' Jill said. 'From the looks of those clouds, it might do so again. All the evidence may get washed away if it hasn't been done already.' The clouds heading in their direction were very dark. The odd flash of lightning could be seen in the distance but it was too far away to be heard. 'Besides, we don't have any more choppers to go and pick them up.'

'Hey, Jill,' Joseph called out, interrupting her. 'Come look at this.' Jill jumped from the top of the helicopter and moved over to the tail. 'What's that?' Joseph asked, pointing to something in the tail rotor. Jill, who was shorter than Joseph, could not quite make out what he was pointing at. She looked around to see what she could use to get higher. Nearby was a tree with thick branches. Jill effortlessly climbed it so that she could get a better look. Inside the tail rotors was a small device that was heavily scorched. It appeared to be the source of the burn marks that surrounded the area. Jill had a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach. 'Do you know what it is?' Joseph asked. Jill looked down at him and nodded.

'Sabotage,' she whispered.

Something silently jumped from the trees and pounced onto Joseph. Jill lost her balance in shock and had to stabilise herself so she did not fall out of the tree. As Joseph fell his gun was dropped and it let out a gunshot, causing Wesker, Chris and Barry to turn to look where it had come from. A large dog was mauling Joseph, who was attempting to resist. Jill fired a few rounds into the animal, but to no effect. She moved to jump down but another dog joined in, attacking him. A third dog saw Jill up the tree and attempted to jump up to her. It jumped high in the air and Jill saw it, kicking it away before it landed on her. The dog smashed into the side of the helicopter before making another run for the tree. Jill looked back down at Joseph who was still fighting the dogs away. She jumped down off the tree and landed on the third dog, shooting it in the head. She shot the first animal off Joseph and saw the second one bite into him. Joseph turned his head and looked at Jill as she saw the beast effortlessly tear his throat.

'Joseph!' Jill screamed, shooting at the other dog that made another run for her. The animal on top of Joseph's twitching body calmly walked toward her as it chewed his throat in its disgusting mouth. Jill saw teeth that were sharper than anything she had ever seen before on an animal. The monster ran for her and jumped but in midair a gunshot rang out and its head disintegrated as a bullet from Barry's .44 Magnum shot straight through. The body landed next to Jill. Chris and Wesker gunned down the remaining animal as Barry ran for her.

'Are you okay?' he asked. Jill looked over to Joseph. Barry stepped over to him; his corpse was a grim sight covered in blood. Chris and Wesker joined the two, looking horrified. Chris was forced to turn away.

'What the hell happened here?' Wesker asked. Before he could get an answer, the group were alerted to a noise behind them. Growling could be heard frighteningly close to them. 'Back to the chopper,' Wesker ordered. 'Go, go!'

The remaining S.T.A.R.S. members fled the scene of Kevin and Joseph's death, running as fast as they could toward safety. Close behind them in their wake, more angry dogs jumped past the crash site and pursued them, jumping over Joseph's grim remains for fresh prey. Barry and Wesker turned occasionally to shoot at them, but each shot was effectively blind as they could not see them well in the darkness. However they could still hear them and from the sounds of things, they were getting closer. Jill, breathing heavily, kept looking for signs of the helicopter. She finally saw it up ahead but it was in the air.

'Brad!' Chris yelled as he saw the helicopter take off. 'Where the hell's he going?' Brad fled, taking the helicopter away from the area and leaving them all to die.

'Damn it!' Barry yelled.

'This way!' Wesker ordered, taking his team in a new direction.

Abandoned by their teammate, things were looking bad. However after more frantic running, Chris spotted something up ahead. It was a large stately home; a mansion hidden in the middle of the forest. With an extra burst of adrenalin and speed, everyone ran as fast as they could, jumping over logs and around trees to put more distance between them and the pack of dogs that was chasing them and gaining in numbers. As they got close to the front door, Jill let out a gasp.

'It better be open!' she cried. Wesker got a little further ahead and made it to the door. It mercifully opened as he pushed it and he ran inside. He turned to close it, letting Chris, Jill and Barry come through. One of the dogs jumped to bite but was kept out when Wesker slammed the door on its face. Nearby was a large candlestick and he took it to barricade the door handles.

'We should be safe now,' Wesker sighed, turning around to see where they were.

The main hall of the mansion was almost as large as the one in the police department. An expensive looking red carpet extended from the door over to the set of stairs that took up most of the room. The stairs split, leading up to the second floor that was visible from the first. The floor under the carpet was made of a shiny stone. Footsteps echoed on it sounding both loud and grand. There were several doors leading away from the area and also a section that went behind the stairs. The area was decorated with expensive looking chandeliers, tasteful paintings and atmospheric candlesticks. Each candle was lit with plenty of wax left, however cobwebs were clearly visible between them.

'What the hell is this place?' Chris asked. Jill and Barry looked to each other knowingly. As Jill was still catching her breath, Barry spoke up.

'I think this is the hideout of the cultists we've been looking for...' he sighed. Everyone gave each other worried looks.

There was no turning back now...


	3. Divide and Conquer

Divide and Conquer

The view from the shoulder camera was dark and difficult to follow. As the person ran, the camera tried to pick up the details of the dark hallway in vain. Short, desperate gasps for breath were heard above the quick, staggered footsteps. From the torch the cameraman was holding, brief glimpses of the expensive dark carpet and the green wallpaper could be seen. As he turned a corner, the cameraman stopped to catch his breath. He looked around where he had just run from and then put his back to the wall, moving his hand to the camera.

As he dislodged it from its secure strap, the picture deteriorated into static for a brief moment before the man held it in front of his face. He was bald with dark skin and eyes. His forehead was brim with sweat and his mouth was open as he panted heavily.

'My name,' he gasped between breaths, 'is Kenneth J. Sullivan. I am forty-five years of age and I am the scout for the Bravo team of Raccoon City's Special Tactics and Rescue Service; S.T.A.R.S.' Kenneth took a deep breath and swallowed. 'On July 23rd; my team was sent into the Arklay Mountains to search for missing persons. At the start of the mission our helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing and crashed. As we split up in the forest, we were attacked by packs of wild animals and things that you would not believe.' Kenneth looked away, his face full of subdued horror. 'Our team leader, Enrico, told us to regroup in this mansion but I've not seen any of my teammates I think they're all...' Kenneth paused as a tear fell down his cheek.

'This place is a house of horrors,' he continued. 'If anyone finds this; please, I beg you to go to...' Kenneth was interrupted as a hand tore around the corner and scratched at his face. 'No!' Kenneth screamed, pushing away from the attacker. The camera recorded more static as he attempted to escape from whoever had attacked him. Slotting the camera back in its place, Kenneth turned around and began shooting at a person that was staggering toward him. The man was bald with extremely pale skin. His clothes were tattered and his eyes were frighteningly blank; they were not the eyes of a human.

Bullets tore through the man's clothes into his chest but still he approached Kenneth. He extended his arms and let out a low moan as he fell toward him. The camera was once again dislodged and fell away from Kenneth, pointing at a wall in the opposite direction. Behind it, the sounds of Kenneth and the man struggling could be heard. The shadows of the two struggling could be seen on the wall. The man appeared to lean his head down to Kenneth's neck. Then came the sickening sound of tearing flesh and Kenneth's agonising screams. The tearing and ripping noises continued but the screaming did not as a pool of blood oozed in front of the camera lens...

*

In the main hall of the mansion, S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team members Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Barry Burton were gathered together after their ordeal in the forest. One if their teammates, Joseph Frost, had been killed by the pack of wild animals that they had been forced to run from. As they attempted to get back to the helicopter for rescue their other teammate, pilot Brad Vickers, had taken off without them and had left them there to die. If they had not have come across the mansion in the middle of the forest; they would all surely be dead. However the security of their safe haven was put into question as Barry suggested that it may be the hideout of the suspected cult that was targeting random people in the city and murdering them in brutal fashions.

'You really think this is the place?' Wesker asked Barry, looking around the hall for any obvious sign of criminal activity.

'It's out of the way,' Barry explained, 'it's big enough for a large group of people and it's guarded by those hounds from hell.' Jill fell to one of the first steps on the main staircase and buried her face in her palms, letting out a distressed sigh. Chris, still catching his breath, looked over to her and moved to join her.

'If this is the hideout for a group of brainwashed, cannibalistic cultists, then we are not in a favourable position...' Wesker said, for the first time sounding worried.

Chris sat down next to Jill, who emerged from her hands and looked straight ahead at the front door.

'I didn't save him,' she said quietly. 'I just stood there as he died...'

'There was nothing you could have done to save him,' Chris said comfortingly. 'I'm sure he wouldn't blame you.' Jill shook her head at him. She had the image of Joseph's face the moment he died stuck in her head; his eyes staring at her, pleading with her, begging her to save him as he was being savaged. Some of Joseph's blood had splattered onto her uniform when he was mercifully put out of his misery. Jill shook her head and closed her eyes. 'It wasn't your fault,' Chris insisted.

'When I was in Delta,' Jill said through her hands, 'I saw some teammates... some friends die but there was nothing I could do about it... With Joseph I...' Jill shook herself and sighed. 'I'm not going to let that happen to anyone else...' Chris nodded slowly and squeezed her knee. Jill leant over to him to whisper something.

'Bravo's chopper,' she whispered. 'It was sabotaged.'

'What?' Chris asked.

'Someone wanted Bravo team to crash so that we'd go looking for them and perhaps find this place...'

'What are you saying?' Chris asked.

'Well... Brad landed close here, didn't he?' Chris swallowed hard as he took in what Jill was suggesting.

'What do we do?' Barry asked Wesker.

'We abort our mission to search for Bravo team,' he instructed. Chris and Jill looked up in protest.

'If we managed to get here from their helicopter, they could have as well!' Chris cried.

'We can't leave anymore of our teammates to die!' Jill insisted.

'They might already be dead,' Wesker pointed out. Jill gave him a distasteful look and then turned to Chris, looking for support.

'Even if we did find Bravo,' Barry cut in, 'there's nothing we can do unless we find a way out of here.'

'Well we can't get out of here,' Chris snapped. 'There are those... things out there!'

'There must be a backdoor somewhere...' Barry mused. 'Maybe if we find it, we can slip out of here?'

'And go deeper into the forest?' Jill said sarcastically. 'I don't think so...'

'Well what do you suggest?' Barry snapped. 'That we just stay here?'

'We need to see if Bravo team are here,' Jill insisted. 'They could have taken refuge here, or could be hostages and need rescuing. They could be dead... Either way; we owe it to them to find out. They're our teammates and they'd do the same for us.' Chris nodded, agreeing with Jill.

'I want to know if Forest is okay,' he said. 'And Rebecca, she's only eighteen...'

'Alright!' Wesker announced, silencing the discussion. 'We all need to stop, calm down and think about this rationally. If Bravo did indeed survive and make it to this place; they would have most likely spent most of their time trying to find a way out of here so they could get back to the city.'

'Or they could have just taken refuge here,' Chris suggested. 'They could still be here right now...'

'In any case,' Wesker continued, 'we won't know unless we investigate. We will split up and search the mansion for signs of Bravo team and for a way out. We have no idea what is ahead so you are given permission to use lethal force on hostiles.'

'You sure that's necessary?' Barry asked.

'By your own account we could very well be in the belly of the beast,' Wesker stated. 'If this is the hideout for the cult, then we have no idea how many of them there are or how well armed they are so if in doubt, don't think; shoot. Is that clear?' Everyone nodded. 'We will meet back here in thirty minutes to share our findings. Barry and I will take the second floor and you two,' he said to Chris and Jill, 'will take the first. Be safe.' Wesker started heading up the staircase. Barry nodded at the two and followed him. They split up at the top to take different sections of the house. Chris looked around and sighed.

'I'll take the west wing?' he suggested. Jill nodded.

'I'll take the east...' she said softly. As she turned, Chris stopped her by putting his arms on her shoulders.

'We're going to find the rest of them,' he said. Jill smiled weakly and nodded once again.

'Yes, we will...' she said, hoping her statement would be true. As Chris stepped away his hands ran down Jill's arms. He let go before he reached Jill's hands and he turned to a large pair of double doors that were toward the west.

'Take care, partner,' he said. Chris stepped through the double doors, leaving Jill alone in the large hallway. Taking out her gun and loading it, she pulled back the slide and let it snap back. Jill entered the east wing of the mansion, leaving the hall completely empty.

The silence was then broken by a quiet moan that seemed to come from every direction...

*

Before S.T.A.R.S. had arrived at the mansion; before the walls had been built and the rooms had been furnished, George Trevor stood in middle of the room that would become the main hall. The grand staircase was yet to be built; instead was a set of stairs heading down beneath the foundations. His fingers tapping nervously on the clipboard in his hand, Trevor stood by the stairs, biting his lip gently and occasionally moving to pace aimlessly around the room.

Trevor looked over to the stairs as he heard footsteps coming up. Dressed in a formal beige suit with a matching trilby, the tall man with a formidable looking entourage of burly bodyguards emerged from the stairs that went down beneath the foundations. He looked over to Trevor and smiled. Trevor breathed a sigh of relief as this was the man he had to impress. This was the man he was building the mansion for. This man was Ozwell E. Spencer.

Spencer stepped away from his bodyguards and approached Trevor.

'I must say,' he spoke with an upper class British accent, 'you have really outdone yourself, my good man.' Trevor nodded graciously.

'It has been my greatest pleasure, Lord Spencer,' he said, his voice grateful. 'You have given me an opportunity to run free; to design something that I can be truly proud of and not be held back by money or people.'

'Yes, it does look magnificent,' Spencer added. 'When will it be finished?'

'A few more months,' Trevor said. 'Some of the mechanisms for the traps you requested do not work properly so we have to make them from scratch.' Spencer nodded in understanding. 'The ground floor and basements are almost complete. When that is done, we will begin constructing the second floor and then begin furnishing. When the mansion is complete I will get the work started on the gardens and courtyards. I am planning that large fountain to be placed near the servant lodgings to give that whole area a grander feel.'

'Well don't rush,' Spencer instructed. 'I'm sure your family won't mind staying here a little longer.'

'Oh, Jessica does,' Trevor laughed. 'She hates it here in the middle of nowhere. She thinks if something bad happens; no one will be there to help.' Spencer cracked a smile.

'Don't worry,' he said softly. 'That will never happen...' Trevor gave him a slightly bemused look. Spencer excused himself and turned to look around the rest of the site. As he left, Trevor had an uneasy feeling sink into his skin. He wasn't sure what Spencer was referring to; if nothing bad would happen or if there would be no one to help...

*

Chris had stepped into a large dining room. The dining table in the centre of the room was almost as long as the room itself and looked like it could hold twenty people each side. Each seat had been set with a knife, fork and spoon by the placemat along with a wineglass ready just over the fork. The utensils had a thin layer of dust over them and the table needed a good polish. At the other end of the room was a roaring fireplace and another door. Chris slowly made his way around the table, his footsteps echoing around the empty room.

High above was a balcony that ran across the entire perimeter of the room, giving Chris an uneasy feeling that he was being watched. Sticking close to the walls, Chris noticed that there were more expensive looking art pieces that decorated them. As he stepped close to the new door, he touched the handle. As he went to open it, Chris looked over the fireplace and noticed that the firewood appeared to be quite fresh. He slowly opened the door and stepped into a long, narrow hallway that had an expensive looking dark carpet and light green wallpaper. As Chris closed the door behind him, he heard a scratching noise down the hall that immediately got his attention. Turning to see where it had some from, Chris looked down the hall and saw something shimmering in the light. It appeared to be the lens of a video camera.

Meanwhile; Jill was walking through a narrow corridor of her own. It had bright walls, still decorated with fine art and cabinets that were placed beneath the paintings, with some holding fine plates and others expensive daggers or knives. Jill stepped past the distractions and turned the corner. A door was to the end of the corridor and she stepped toward it. Small windows dotted around showed the complete darkness of the outside. Not even stopping to look, Jill went past them and opened the door.

A large dog pounced on her from the other side as she went to step through. Jill was knocked off her feet and skidded along the ground as the animal attempted to bite her. Still sliding, Jill kicked the beast off her and managed to stand up, taking a few shots at it. The dog whimpered and fell dead. Jill sighed and gave herself a shake. She looked up and to her surprise, another dog stepped through the doorway. Jill took aim but the window next to her shattered as yet another dog entered the room, diving through to attack her. Jill turned, grabbed the beast by its neck, breaking it, and threw it at the other dog that was making a run for her. The remaining dog jumped over the corpse and dived to Jill, its mouth wide open to bite her. Jill fired a single shot that went into the dog's mouth and out the back of its neck. The monster fell next to Jill, dead. Sighing, Jill decided to move on before she ran into anymore trouble.

As she made her way back to the door, the dog she had just killed stood up, growling at her. Jill turned and saw it making a run for her. Deciding to flee, Jill jumped over the other two dogs and made it to the door, slamming it shut behind her. She heard the animal on the other side scratching at the wood. Jill, catching her breath, felt a gentle breeze on her face. As she looked around she saw a metallic door that was open, leading to the outside. Yet another dog poked its head around it, looking at her viciously. Jill ran for it before the dog had a chance to move, kicked it in the face and slammed the door shut. Taking a moment, Jill rested her head on the door, her breath condensing on the cold metallic surface.

Jill jumped back as the dogs on the other side of the door began to bang and scrape at it. Taking a deep breath, Jill reloaded her gun and pressed on. She was in another narrow corridor with dull, dark wooden floors. Cautiously moving through the hallway, Jill came to another doorway. Water was oozing from under it and it appeared to have been doing so for some time. The surrounding area was damp and damaged. Jill decided to investigate. Cautiously, she gripped the door handle with one hand and her gun in the other and slowly opened it a crack, peeking inside. It was a small bathroom. Jill stepped inside and took a look around. The water was coming from the overflowing bathtub. One of the taps had been left on; meaning the person preparing the bath had to have left in a sudden hurry. Slipping slightly in the puddle, Jill moved to stop the flowing water.

Stepping over to the lens of the video camera that lay on the floor, Chris saw that it was surrounded by a pool of blood. He followed the trail of blood and saw someone hunched over something in the corner. The blood was coming from whatever the person was hunched over. As Chris stepped closer he gasped in shock. He saw Bravo team member Kenneth lying on the ground; his eyes wide open with an expression of pure terror stuck on his blood covered face. Hearing him, the person turned around and looked at Chris. His eyes were blank, inhuman. His skin was pale with numerous cuts and lacerations visible. Some wounds seemed to be serious, however it was difficult to tell how injured he was as his face was covered in Kenneth's blood. Some flesh he had just torn from the body fell from his teeth onto the floor, landing by his bare feet. Letting out a groan, he stood up and stepped toward Chris.

'Stop!' Chris yelled, jumping back. The man did not listen and continued to stagger toward him. 'I said stop!' he cried again. The man, disregarding everything Chris said, lunged forward to grab him, leaving Chris no other options and shot him twice in the chest. The assailant staggered slightly and then continued to move toward Chris as if the bullets had been blanks. Chris fired a few more rounds at him, landing one in his shin. The man stumbled yet somehow managed to get back to his feet. Astounded, Chris could think of nothing else to do but to step back and get as far away from this person as possible. He retreated back into the dining room where he was grabbed as he turned around. Struggling with the man, Chris punched him off and kicked him away, toward the fireplace. Taking aim, Chris shot him in the kneecap and as he fell, kicked him in the face. The man flew backward and his head crashed through the grate of the fire. Stepping back, Chris took a breath. He then looked over and saw the man once again stand up, his head on fire with a metal spike stuck in it. He let out one more moan before staggering to the floor and collapsing dead. Aiming at the corpse for a moment, making sure he was dead, Chris let out a horrified cry. He ran back into the hallway and looked to Kenneth.

Kneeling down by his corpse, Chris examined him. Covered in blood, his clothes torn and tattered, it appeared that Kenneth's final moments were incredibly horrible. Chris closed Kenneth's eyes and removed the tape from the camera pack. Sliding it into his pocket, he turned and left Kenneth alone in the corridor...

As Jill stopped the running tap, a hand punched through the grimy water, grabbing her arm. Startled, Jill lost her footing on the water and fell, smashing her head on the side of the bathtub causing her to drop her gun. A man emerged from the water, staring insanely at Jill. Falling from the bath, he crawled over to where she was on the floor. Jill attempted to get away, but was trapped between the man and the bathroom wall. She turned and saw him crawl to her, his mouth wide open and his eyes blank and dead. He grabbed her leg as he tried to get closer. Jill let out a yelp as she tried to reach her weapon, which was over on the other side of the room. Needing to improvise, Jill took her other leg and pinned the man's head between her two legs. He let out a groan and tried to claw at Jill further. As Jill applied more pressure, the man struggled harder.

Suddenly, the man's neck made a loud, sickening crack and his head dislodged from his body. Jill screamed as the head rolled off her leg and fell to the floor. Kicking it away, Jill scrambled to her gun, retrieved it and ran out of the bathroom and down the hallway. Falling to her knees, Jill tried to process everything she had just experienced. A noise came from behind the corner and she rolled on the ground to take good aim at what was approaching her. Barry stepped around the corner, holding his arms up.

'Jill!' he cried.

'Barry!' she gasped, lowering her gun. 'I thought you went upstairs?'

'The path took me down here,' he explained, taking note of Jill's distress. 'I take it you've seen them too?'

'There is something wrong with this house!' Jill spat. Barry nodded.

'You're telling me...'

*

Chris was sat on the main stairs of the mansion, his face buried in his palms. Sighing, he folded his arms and looked straight ahead; trying to get the imprint of what he had seen out of his mind. From the second floor, a door opened and Barry stepped out, closely followed by Jill. They both looked pale.

'Chris!' Jill exclaimed, heading down toward him. Chris stood up as she ran down the stairs, closely followed by Barry. Jill stopped in front of him and grabbed his hands. 'You're alright?'

'I take it you've seen something, too?' Chris asked. Jill swallowed hard and nodded.

'There's definitely something strange going on here,' Barry said.

'Yeah, no kidding,' Chris looked to him, letting go of Jill's hands. 'I just found Kenneth. He's dead.' Jill and Barry shook their heads in anger. 'I saw the guy who killed him,' Chris continued. 'He was biting him...'

'Oh God, no!' Jill gasped.

'I shot him a few times; in the chest and legs and it didn't even affect him.'

'Are you serious?' Jill asked. Chris nodded and she put her hand to her chin, thinking.

'I thought I had killed him when I pushed his head into a fireplace, but he still stood up with part of the grate stuck in his head, which was on fire, and walked around a bit before he finally died.'

'Jesus...' Barry muttered. 'That's unreal.'

'I had to come back here,' Chris sighed. 'I just... I couldn't be there any longer...'

'They guy who attacked me,' Jill said, trying to take Chris' mind off Kenneth, 'he was submerged in a bathtub full of water when he struck... He looked as though he'd been underwater for a while...'

'What the hell is going on?' Chris asked. 'How is that possible?'

'I think we're dealing with something more complicated than a fanatical cult,' Jill speculated. 'Monstrous dogs outside guarding a mansion with near invincible, bloodthirsty residents? I don't like it...'

'Where's Wesker?' Barry suddenly asked. 'I would have thought he would've come back by now...'

The three were silent for a moment. A flash of lightning streaked through the windows, making everything inside flicker as the crash of thunder closely followed. Everyone looked to each other and then stared up at the door on the western side of the mansion's 2nd floor.

'Do you think he's...?' Barry muttered, not wanting to finish the rest of his sentence. Chris shook his head, not wanting to believe Wesker had suffered the same fate as Kenneth.

'We need to go look for him!' he insisted.

'We could be walking into a trap,' Jill noted. 'The east wing is clear of anyone; Barry and I just checked, but the west wing is unexplored...' She looked at Chris. 'You only went in a small distance and Wesker's completely missing. If that's where we found Kenneth then I think that is where these... people will be located.' Chris and Barry nodded, agreeing with her. 'It'll be dangerous to go in knowing that.'

'That's why we'll all go together,' Barry announced. 'Three is better than one. That should tilt the scales in our favour.'

'It would...' Chris agreed. 'But... what if we're wrong and Wesker comes back and no one is here? He might go off searching for us and find himself in danger.'

'I'll stay and secure the area,' Jill offered. 'I'll wait here for either you guys to get back or for Wesker to show up. When you've searched that area, return here and then we can all get out together.' Chris and Barry exchanged glances and then nodded.

'Be safe, Jill,' Barry said as he and Chris turned and ran up the stairs in the search of Wesker. Jill sat down on one of the steps, put her hands together and sighed.

'You too,' she said under her breath.

*

George Trevor was sat at the table with his family, eating dinner. His wife, Jessica, was talking to their 14 year old daughter, Lisa about something that he was not paying close attention to. He just sat there, playing with his food as he stared blankly into space. Jessica looked over to him and frowned.

'George,' she said, getting his attention. George snapped out of his daydream and smiled at his wife.

'Sorry, darling,' he smiled. 'Just thinking...'

'What about?' Lisa asked.

'I'm just thinking about how wonderful my special girls are,' George winked at her. Lisa made fake gagging noises as Jessica laughed.

'Yeah, yeah!' she laughed. '"Just thinking about your special girls..." You're thinking about when your pride and joy is going to be finished.' Her tone was light-hearted but had a slight seriousness to it.

'Don't be absurd!' George cried. 'You two are my pride and joy.'

'Smooth, Dad,' Lisa giggled.

'I hope you're happy with it,' Jessica said. 'The mansion, I mean. I know what you're like when it comes to work: everything has to be perfect.'

'Well, yes,' George said, 'If you're not going to do something right, don't do it at all, but...' He sighed slightly frustrated. 'I'd be able to make things perfect if Spencer didn't keep interfering. He's been making things far more difficult than they need to be.'

'It is for him, Dad,' Lisa said. 'Shouldn't he decide what he wants?'

'Yes, honey,' George nodded. 'But he allowed me to have free reign in designing my dream mansion. But lately; he's become more and more involved in everything. More so in the last few weeks; like the fountain in the back for example! I step out from the servant's quarters to check the foundation is perfect and what do I see? A massive hole is being dug underneath where the large fountain will be and not under my orders. Spencer asked the builders to do this himself without telling me. Now, why would you want to put a huge hole under something as large as that?'

'To hide something,' Lisa suggested. George and Jessica shook their heads.

'I tell you, it's a poor show,' George continued. 'I'm getting frazzled.'

'Now, George,' Jessica put down her fork. 'Why don't you just talk to Spencer about it? You know what rich people are like; they don't like to feel like they're out of control, especially with a project this big.'

'I guess you're right...' George sighed.

'He probably doesn't even know that he's doing it,' Jessica continued. 'He's a very nice man; I mean if he paid to have Lisa and me to come out here so that we could keep you company, I'm sure he values you and will take on what you tell him.' George smiled and nodded.

'You're right,' he said. 'You're always right.'

'I know,' Jessica winked. 'That's why you married me.'

There came a loud, important sounding knock from the front door of their wooden cabin. Jessica stood up from her chair and went to answer it.

'When do you think it'll be finished then?' Lisa asked.

'A few days,' George replied.

'Really?' Lisa sat up, very excited.

'No,' George chuckled, causing Lisa to playfully slap his arm. 'Probably a few more weeks, then we can return to New York.'

'Good!' Lisa smiled. 'I miss all my friends.'

'I miss the city,' George nodded. 'It's too quiet out here.'

'Yeah, and lonely,' Lisa added. 'Why would anyone want to live out here all alone?' George leant forward on the table, pushing the plate aside.

'Well some people just like living alone,' he said. Jessica stepped into the room with a serious look on her face.

'I'll be right back,' George told Lisa, standing up himself and joining Jessica at the front door. A man who looked to be an associate of Lord Spencer was stood there, looking grim.

'Your aunt Julie,' Jessica said. 'She's been taken into hospital.'

'What?' George asked, surprised by the suddenness of the statement. 'What happened? What's wrong?'

'The details are a bit sketchy,' the man explained. 'Because of confidentiality all I was told was that she was taken ill a few hours ago. They didn't say what was wrong with her, only that she is very, very ill...'

'What are we going to do, George?' Jessica asked. 'The poor woman has no other family apart from us.' George nodded.

'We should go up as soon as possible,' he said.

'Lisa and I can, but you can't,' Jessica said. 'You need to talk to Spencer about getting some leave before you can leave the site.'

'You've got a point...' George nodded. 'Okay, you and Lisa could go see her while there is still time... I'll try and hurry things up here so I can join you as soon as I can.' He looked to Spencer's associate. 'Can you arrange a car or something to take my family out of here?'

'I'll get on that right away,' he said, excusing himself to make the arrangements. Jessica gave George a sad look and then ran back inside to tell Lisa the news and ordered her to pack some things for the journey. George stood at the doorway, thinking. A dark feeling had sunk in his chest.

A short while later, Jessica and Lisa were stepping out the front door to leave the Arklay Mountains. Jessica gave her husband a kiss and let Lisa give him a warm hug before stepping into the car.

'I'll see you soon,' Jessica said as she closed the door. The car started to drive away and Lisa looked out through the back window and waved at her Father. George waved back, his uneasy feeling growing as the car faded into the distance, leaving him alone by the cabin.

*

Jill was pacing around the main hall nervously. Chris and Barry had only been gone a short time, yet she was already having negative thoughts about bad things happening to them. Trying to shake these thoughts out of her head, she walked up the stairs to take a closer look at the large wall painting of a group of people standing together over something that she could not make out. The painting was old and fairly damaged at eye level. Jill turned around and sighed as she gazed over the rest of the hall. As she stood there she felt a slight breeze on her neck. Jill turned around again to see where the breeze was coming from. There were no windows nearby and no holes or cracks in the walls that she could see. Jill stepped closer to the wall and ran her hand over the surface of the painting. It was dry and cracked. She soon felt something metallic that stuck out slightly; a doorknob. Intrigued, Jill gripped it and turned it, causing a section of the wall to pop open. Jill opened the door and stepped through it.

She emerged outside in a small graveyard. Stepping out into the fresh air, Jill took a deep breath and gripped her gun, using her torch to light her path. The graveyard was derelict; the various tombstones were faded and damaged with large cracks over the engravings. Down a small set of stairs, Jill stepped out and saw more gravestones on each side of a thin path that led away from the mansion. Following the stone path through the graveyard, Jill was on the lookout for any dangers. In the distance, Jill saw a fence that was most likely built to keep out the vicious animals outside. Still not taking any chances, Jill held her gun tight and pointed it in the same direction she shone her light.

The stone path ended and was replaced with a dirt one. Her feet sinking slightly in the wet earth, Jill went down a steep hill over to a large gate. Two identical statues of a three headed dog were on each side of the gate, the three heads of each beast seemingly glaring viciously at her. Walking past the eerily lifelike statues, Jill went through the creaky gate and continued walking ahead on the other side.

*

Chris and Barry had their backs to a wall as they searched for Wesker. Coming to a corner, Chris poked his head around and went forward after seeing no one there. Barry joined him and secured the rear section.

'Where is everyone?' Chris whispered. 'I thought there'd be more people here than this...'

'Maybe they're all at the city?' Barry suggested. 'Good for us, I guess...'

'If that's true,' Chris said, 'then where is Wesker or the rest of Bravo team?'

'Further in, I guess...'

'I hope we find them soon,' Chris wiped his brow. 'I think we should get out of here before the residents all come back.' The two came to some creaky wooden stairs, which they descended slowly to make as little noise as possible. 'So do you think that there's a traitor?'

'What?' Barry asked, surprised. 'Where did that come from?'

'Bravo team's helicopter was sabotaged,' Chris informed him. 'Someone obviously wanted them to crash and wanted us to go looking for them.'

'Who would do that?' Barry asked.

'I dunno,' Chris shook his head. 'But don't you think it's funny that we landed so close to this mansion?'

'You think Brad is involved?'

'He did abandon us,' Chris pointed out, reciting Jill's theory.

'Brad could never do that!' Barry exclaimed. 'He may be a complete chicken but he's not a traitor.' Chris sighed and nodded.

'I dunno what I'm thinking,' he said. 'This whole situation is so... overwhelming.'

'I can understand,' Barry said comfortingly as the two made it to the bottom of the stairs and moved ahead. 'You and Forest are close buddies. It must be hard not knowing if your best friend is...' He paused and sighed. 'Well, you know... Anyway it must be someone who wants S.T.A.R.S. gone,' Barry suggested, turning the conversation back to speculating who the traitor was.

'Like who?' Chris wondered. 'If someone wanted to get rid of S.T.A.R.S., why not plant a bomb on our helicopters instead of sending us into bed with an insane cult?'

'Maybe it's the people behind the cult who wants to get rid of us?'

'A cult of cannibals wants to get rid of S.T.A.R.S. by infiltrating the police department and sending them right to their hideout?' Chris sounded sceptical. 'The only person who could really arrange something like that would be Irons.'

'Chief Irons is weird though,' Barry said. 'He's been slashing our budget, interfering with operations procedures and insisted we hire an inexperienced field medic on Bravo. Plus there are all those rumours...'

Walking through a few more corridors, the two ceased their conversation as they stepped into what appeared to be an indoor greenhouse. There were rows of potted plants and a small fountain in the centre of the room. The water was flowing freely. As Chris and Barry stepped close to it, large plant vines suddenly shot into the air from the base. Chris and Barry immediately recoiled and stepped backward.

'What the hell is that?' Chris asked, stepping close to it. The door leading back into the corridor burst open and some cultists crashed inside the room. The loud noise startled the plant vines, one of them shooting forward and wrapping around Chris' neck. Chris fell to the ground and began to choke. Barry stepped back and began shooting at the cult members, firing the occasional shot at the plant. Chris tried to pull the vines off his neck but the grip only strengthened as he struggled. Barry shot a few more people dead, his magnum bullets shattering their skulls. As the number of attackers started to dwindle, Chris began to feel incredibly weak. As a last ditch attempt to get out; he took out his knife and sliced the vines off his neck.

Falling forward, Chris landed on the floor and began choking, gasping for air. Barry knelt down to his aid. Before he could help Chris up, a different vine shot forward to try and grab them. Barry held Chris and jumped back, away from the danger. He helped Chris up and the two ran out, down the corridor. They went into a room down the hall that had an open door. Stepping through, Chris landed on a bed to continue trying to recover. There was a large red mark around his neck.

'What the hell?' he coughed, rubbing his skin.

'I know...' Barry murmured, looking around the room. It was a small bedroom with a desk, a built in wardrobe opposite it and some cabinets that held liquor and ornaments. 'Fancy a drop?' Barry asked, taking a bottle out of the cabinet. Chris shook his head and spat on the floor. Barry moved over to the desk to see if there was anything of interest. The wardrobe behind him burst open and another cult member jumped out. Barry turned and smashed the bottle over his head, sending him down to the ground. He knelt down over the man and examined him.

'His skin has putrefied,' he told Chris. 'Some of it is falling off or looks like it's been rotting...' He looked up at Chris. 'He looks as though he's dead.'

'And yet he walked,' Chris muttered. As Barry was kneeling down he noticed something under the bed. Reaching for it, he pulled out a small diary and placed it on the bed. It looked well used. Barry flicked to the present date and then flicked back a few entries to just over a month ago. He read the passages out loud to Chris.

...

Sam was sat in front of a computer with an Umbrella logo on the back of the monitor, looking at various documents on the screen. An important looking woman stepped inside the lab and Sam minimized the document that had a picture of an aggressive looking dog included on it. The woman approached Sam, walking past the expensive lab equipment including powerful computers, chemicals and jars containing specimens of various organs.

'Dr. Birkin,' Sam said, standing up. 'How are you?'

'I'm well, thank you,' Birkin said, although she looked as though she was lying. Her face was tired and grim, her blonde hair was slightly frazzled and her lab coat was wrinkled.

'Another long night?' he asked her.

'I've been clearing a new creature through security,' she explained. 'It is very agile and Peter insists on the utmost security surrounding it.'

'He's afraid of someone stealing it?' Sam asked.

'No,' Birkin corrected him. 'He's afraid of it breaking out. He developed it with the others by mixing reptilian DNA with human embryos. It's very playful and needs live food. I suggest you feed it when it arrives.'

'When is it arriving?' Sam asked. He was answered by a large metallic container being loaded into the creature holding area. The area was completely bare; just a small square metallic room. The container was the only object inside. A hatch opened and the creature inside jumped out. The crate was then hastily withdrawn and the access hatch shut instantly. Sam and Birkin looked down on the animal; it had green, scaly skin with razor sharp claws on its feet and hands. It was about the size of a gorilla and had a pointed, angry face. The beast showed its sharp teeth as it let out a dull cry.

Dr. Birkin took the instruction microphone and ordered for a live pig to be thrown in. She returned to where Sam was stood to watch. A large pig was thrown into the holding area. Intimidated by the beast's presence, it backed away from it and ran into a corner. The green monster let out a cry and jumped high, higher than one would expect an animal of its nature to jump. Leaping through the air, the beast pounced onto the helpless pig. One of the claws tore through the pig's belly and it let out a wail. The beast threw the pig around the room, blood splattering everywhere. It pinned the pig to the ground and tore off one of the legs and threw it away. It then dived into its belly and began tearing out the insides, all with the pig still alive and screaming. Sam stood back, slightly disturbed at what he was seeing. Dr. Birkin stood, her arms folded, smiling.

'We're calling it a "hunter",' she told him. Birkin looked away from the mess over to Sam. 'Appropriate, don't you agree?'

...

Later that night, Sam was having trouble sleeping in bed. The clock on the side table said the time was just after 5 in the morning. His dreams were being invaded by images of the Hunter tearing the pig to death. Sam had seen some intense, disturbing things over the past few years but the Hunter was by far the most evil creation he had set his eyes on. His door suddenly burst open and he shot up awake. A man in a large protective suit ran inside and started yelling at him.

'What the hell!?' Sam cried.

'You need to get one of these on right now!' the man ordered. Through the clear window on the suit, Sam saw the look of seriousness and fear in the man's eyes.

'What's going on?' Sam asked, getting out of bed.

'There's been a leak in the basement,' he was told.

'No fucking surprise,' Sam muttered, leaving his room and stepping out into the corridor to get a protective suit. 'Those researchers never sleep...'

...

A few days later, Sam was sat in the infirmary being examined by the doctor. His skin was becoming discoloured and he was appearing to suffer from gangrene. On his leg was a large dark patch of itchy skin that had lumped together. Large blisters had formed on his feet and his back was sore and very itchy. A large bandage had been placed on it, soothing it slightly. He scratched at his foot as the doctor stepped into the room.

'Well,' he said reluctantly. 'You don't need to wear your protective suit anymore.'

'Really? Sam asked. 'That's good news then, isn't it?'

'Well you are no longer at risk of being exposed to anything else so it is,' the doctor nodded.

'Then why the hell am I still suffering these symptoms?' Sam asked. 'I mean, I was scratching the swelling on my arm last night and some flesh just fell right off! What the hell is happening to me?'

'We can give you something to make you more comfortable,' the doctor said, dodging the question.

'I'll be comfortable if I left this place,' Sam shook his head. 'Get a second opinion.'

'You can't leave!' the doctor cried, standing up. 'Did you hear what happened to Walt?'

'Didn't he leave?' Sam asked, sounding worried.

'He tried to leave,' the doctor nodded. 'He tried to escape, run away. He was shot dead by the guards.'

'You serious?' Sam spat. 'What? Why?'

'They're quarantining us until they are sure there is no further danger,' the doctor said, scratching the back of his neck. 'Just go get some rest. You'll feel better in no time.' Sam suddenly felt too weak to argue so he turned around and dragged his foot along the floor as he left the infirmary. The doctor looked glum as he continued scratching the back of his neck, which was red and very itchy...

...

Chris and Barry exchanged nervous glances. Sam was lying on the ground, glass from the bottle Barry used to hit him stuck in his head. Chris stood up and loaded his gun.

'Let's go,' he said croakily; his mouth and become very dry. As the two left the room, Sam twitched on the floor and stood up, letting out a quiet moan.

*

Jill was beginning to think that she was heading too far into the forest. The dirt path she had been following seemed to go on forever. She had been walking up a slight hill for the past few minutes and the silence of the air was becoming overwhelming. Every noise; a broken twig or a bird crowing caused Jill to jump and look over that direction for something about to attack.

Pushing herself forward, Jill saw something in the distance. It was a flickering light from what appeared to be a lantern. Stepping past the trees, Jill came across a clearing that was occupied by a derelict cabin. It looked old and poorly maintained. The flickering lantern was hanging by the front door, which was slightly ajar and moving in the wind. Jill pushed it open, stepped inside and closed it behind her.

Cobwebs were all over the inside of the cabin, yet it looked very lived in. Through a small passageway, Jill stepped into the main area that had a flickering fire. Jill stood next to it to warm herself and noticed that the firewood looked fresh. Looking around further, she saw some old photographs on the wall of what looked like a family or three, but it was too dark to see their faces clearly. Stepping up into another room, Jill saw a small bed that looked well used. A tattered peice of paper lay on top of the mattress. Jill looked at it and it appeared to be a note written by a young child.

"19

dadddy atached first

momm atached scond

iNside reD and sLimy

whiTe and haRd

not true moM wheRe

dunno dadd

found mum again

whne atachd momMy

she moved no more

she screaming

why?

Jst want to b with her

4

mom

where?

I mis yuo"

Jill swallowed hard and stepped away from the bed and glanced around the room, looking for any signs of a child. There was a Polaroid sized photograph on a desk opposite the bed. She stepped over to look, taking it from the desk. It was of a man and a woman, who looked to be in their forties with a young girl who may have been their daughter. Jill looked closely at the photo but suddenly heard something back in the main area; the door opening and closing. Footsteps could be heard heading through the passage into the main room. Jill put her back to the wall so that she would not be seen by whoever it was. Gripping her gun tight in one hand and the photograph in the other, she held her breath as the newcomer stepped inside.

She could not see who it was but heard deep, heavy breathing. It sounded like a man's breaths. The man had stopped and was stood by the fire. Jill leant around the corner to take a look at who it was. She saw a long, flickering shadow but could not see the person. Jill moved a bit more but the person moved around the room, making it harder to see. As Jill stepped out, she heard something behind her. Turning she saw a fist swing through the air and hit her in the face, knocking her backward and into the main room.

Her vision blurred, Jill looked up and saw a hunched figure bending down over something on the floor. As she got her vision back, she saw the figure lift the photograph that Jill had dropped as she fell. Getting to her feet, she stumbled back and rested against the mantle of the fireplace. She got a good look at who had just attacked her.

A heavily hunched woman was staring at the photo, dressed in a heavily tattered hospital gown. Her large, almost oversized arms were held together by a wooden manacle and were swaying in front of her body. Her feet were bare. Her face was covered in what looked like torn flesh from other people. Through tiny holes in her mask made of skin, Jill could see eyes that conveyed an intense, overwhelming sense of sorrow. The eyes looked over from the photograph to stare at Jill, who stepped back in a mixture of fear and horror.

From the passageway, the new visitor to the cabin stepped inside the room after hearing the noise.

'My God,' he gasped happily when he saw Jill, stepping forward. He was about to say something else when his eyes drifted over to the hunched woman opposite her. As he spoke, the woman turned to stare at him and let out a loud cry. Small tentacles shot out from her back and began to spasm as she cried. On her shoulder was a large tumour that had a third eye that stared at Jill.

'Run!' Jill yelled at him, breaking into a sprint. The woman screamed and swung the manacles at Jill, who ducked to avoid it. She and the man left the cabin and ran as fast as they could away from it in any direction. Jill and the man faded away into the night as the woman crashed out of the cabin and let out a bemoaning cry.


End file.
